Ashes of the Night
by zardoru
Summary: Welcome to Sandcarrion, a hidden city in the fringes of the Sand Kingdom, where SandWing deserters escape the succession war among the dunes. Where two unusual dragonet siblings have lived their entire life. Until they met the residents.


Hey. This fanfiction was originally edited to be read in a PDF file.

Here's the link to see the text as it was originally formatted.

Check "zardoru dot tumblr dot com" for the PDF file.

* * *

_Hear the words of the wise_

_Dragon of fire, dragon of smoke_

_Hear the words of the sun_

_Dragons of night and ash_

_Shall you burn the corpses_

_The desert will swallow you whole_

_Trust the enforcers of justice_

_Lest the voices beyond…_

– Prologue –

Moonstone and Starmover observed their egg under the light of a single full moon of Pyrrhia above them. Starmover was trying to see through the shell of the egg, concentrated and unresponsive.

"What do you think they'll be like?" asked Moonstone.

"I'm trying to figure it out."

"You can't see through eggs, Starmover!" She laughed and pressed her warm body against his.

"That doesn't stop me from trying." Starmover smiled and wrapped his wing around Moonstone. He focused back on the egg. "Hey! It's hatching!"

"Oh!" Moonstone quickly looked back at the egg.

_Crack._

The snout of a dark dragon poked out at the left.

_Crack_.

A bright dragon's snout came out of the other side. The egg started to get hotter and hotter.

_Twins?_

The egg shell shattered as two dragons popped from the egg and extended their wings for the first time, revealing the starry pattern below their wings.

The first dragonet had shining, red and orange scales shining like hot metal and gray teardrop shaped scales behind his eyes. The second dragonet had murky, red-tinted dark scales reminiscent of ash, and a shorter snout.

Starmover had not seen a SkyWing dragonet in his had never even heard of what happened to some SkyWing twins. Moonstone needed to tell him about –

"Beautiful dragonets!" exclaimed Starmover, cheerfully as he quickly hopped off to pick the siblings up. He picked the murky scaled dragonet up.

"Wait, don't touch the red dragonet!" Moonstone exclaimed.

"Why? What's wrong with – OW!" said Starmover. His talon was burnt by the red dragonet's firescales. The dragonet seemed distressed, looking around while clutching his head.

Moonstone rushed to grab the broken egg shell to wrap the fiery dragonet with it and tried to grab him for just long enough to move him away from the wooden base that started to burn. The dragonet started letting out short, gasping shouts.

The murky dragonet jumped Starmover's arms and made a signal with her talons to her brother. They both started to run away from the city of Sandcarrion.

Both parents followed their children together through the desert, taking distance from the city. A long walk afterwards, the bright dragon calmed down, settling into the sand.

"Moonstone, what's going on with our dragonets?" asked Starmover.

A SkyWing with firescales didn't immediately try to run away from a city. Generally. Usually? It was the first dragonets they had. Maybe it's normal. "We'll have to figure it out here, in the desert," Moonstone said. "Wait for me for a moment."

She took to the skies to try to see exactly where they were. A few more meters away, behind the dunes, there was an unoccupied oasis with a small pond. "There!" she pointed. "Follow me, Starmover, and bring the kids!"

Starmover looked at their hatchlings. They were throwing sand at each other and playing not long after they were running away from the city. He figured he couldn't pick up the scorching hot dragonet and turned his head towards Moonstone for help. "H-how am I supposed to do that? I can't pick them both up!"

"Think of something!" she answered, from far above him.

"Think of something. How didn't I come up with that?" Starmover said. "Okay, I think really, really hard that both of these dragons should follow me," he said, mockingly, spinning in circles.

"Come on, you're _Starmover_! You can come up with something!" said Moonstone.

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking very hard!" he said, flailing his arms at Moonstone in a mocking tone.

Confused by what seemed to be going on, the bright dragon tilted his head and, standing on his four legs, suddenly nodded in understanding and walked right behind him.

"H-huh!?" said Starmover. "By all the snakes, I can't believe that worked!"

"Huh?" thought Moonstone. "Oh! It worked. Obviously, it did. I knew it would," she said, confused. Starmover had probably come up with something to get their kids to follow them, right? Right.

Starmover picked the murky dragonet up. Together, the two parents traversed the desert to get to the oasis along with their two newly born dragonets. "So, what are we going to call them?"

Moonstone stopped for a moment. "How about, _Firebringer_ and _Amberkeeper?_"

"I'm not really sure the names –"

"Firebringer and Amberkeeper it is!" Moonstone merrily cheered.

–  
Chapter 1 –

Firebringer knew his sister was worried about something. She had been brooding for the last few days. He had trouble reading what she was thinking, as if there was a dark mist that covered her thoughts. He wanted to get her mind off whatever was worrying her.

"I'm bored!" exclaimed Firebringer. "Amber, let's play tag!"

The murky scaled dragonet lifted her head. "Huh? Oh. Sure. Let's play."

Moonstone immediately got up from her rest in the sand. "Firebringer, that's a bad idea. You could end up hurting Amber."

"I'll be careful this time. I promise!" said Firebringer.

"Come on now. We're off to a very important meeting with a kind dragon that said they are going to help us, so we won't be able to aid you if you end up hurt," said Moonstone.

"Boring!" Firebringer exclaimed. "Come on, skip your meeting! What do you even need to meet with him for?"

Amberkeeper spoke up. "I do think it's a good idea if you watched us play tag instead. Meetings can be very dangerous, mom."

Starmover lifted his head from the sand. "There's nothing dangerous about meetings, Amber. We won't get another chance to talk to Badger."

Moonstone sighed. "Wait for us here, patiently. You're in charge, Amber."

Firebringer nodded, disappointed. "Okay, mom."

"Remember to stay here, you two. You can't go to Sandcarrion," said Starmover. "We'll be back really soon, so just wait for us patiently. As long as you're together, you'll be fine."

"Okay! We're not following you._" I don't get it._ _Why shouldn't we go to the city with them?_ He tried to listen to his father's thoughts but couldn't ever hear or see anything coming from his mind. He had a foggy thought process like that of his sister, except all the time.

"We have to be off, now," said Moonstone, finally getting up. Moonstone and Starmover both approached Amberkeeper and hugged her. "Take care of yourselves, you two."

Both parents came near Firebringer and avoided eye contact for a moment. They turned back to their son and nodded.

_I wish I could give them a hug as well. _He remembered the many times they'd burnt their talons trying to stop him from doing fun things, like playing with scorpions, or looking for snakes, or touching a cactus. He looked at the burns on their scales and turned to his sister.

Both parents opened their wings and lifted off towards the south. In the air, they waved their front talons at their children. "We'll be back by the evening!" said Moonstone.

The siblings waved at their parents until they were too small to see.

"I know! Let's play dragonbag. First of us who repeats a word eats a cactus!" said Firebringer.

Amberkeeper blinked at him and relaxed her posture. "Okay then," Amberkeeper said. "But I already know I'm going to win."

"We'll see about that! Topic, um, desert animals!" Firebringer exclaimed.

Amberkeeper turned her eyes to the sky for a moment, then looked at her brother again. "Badger!" She said.

"Hey, that's not fair! I was going to say badger!" Firebringer stared at his sister, disappointed.

"You said badger. I win." She smirked and rested her legs on the sand.

"That's not fair!" He exclaimed. "Let's go again!"

"Fennec fox!" She said, leaving him no time to come up with his answer.

Firebringer stuttered for a moment, as his sister had again guessed what he was going to say. "S-snakes!"

"Scorpions!" she quickly replied. Firebringer was out of desert animals he knew. His sister had named them before he did.

"See? I told you I'd win. Go find a cactus," Amberkeeper mocked, and rested her head on the sand.

The siblings played few more rounds of dragonbag until the night arrived, resting in the pond of water through the evening. They waited for their parents to come back, but it was late, and things were boring when they weren't there.

Amberkeeper was staring at the moons, belly up, both arms over her chest. There was a single idea repeating in her head over and over as she thought of what the future would bring. _They won't come back._

"Hey, Amber," said Firebringer, floating in the water warmed by his firescales.

"What?"

"How long do you think the meeting was supposed to last? You think we should go and find them?"

"Uh..." Amberkeeper kept quiet for a moment collecting her thoughts. "Probably not this long."

The possibilities of all that could go wrong in the city had been in her mind for days. The night terrors she had where she saw her family gutted and taxidermized. Death by fire. Poison. Slashed throats. Foresight she didn't want to share with her family.

But there were other things that made her yearn to go. She thought of her brother, thinking of the possibility of finding an animus dragon that could help Firebringer by removing or fixing his firescales and control his mind reading. She thought of her parents, and the richer life they could have among other dragons if they left the oasis. The world they could explore if only they could be around other dragons.

Amberkeeper remembered the times that Firebringer seemed to have forgotten. The distress he projected from being around so many dragons, overwhelmed by something she couldn't understand. She didn't want her brother to have to deal with that.

"But I think we should wait for them," she concluded.

"Come on, you _know_ you want to go as much as I do! Why not?" Firebringer exclaimed.

It's not like she didn't want to go, but it was too dangerous, and her parents had put her in charge to keep them both safe. She tried directing her brother away from the conversation. _"_I absolutely don't, Firebringer. Just like you don't want to tell either of our parents about being able to read their minds."

"Hey! _They_ don't want to talk about it! It's not really _my_ fault. Is it? Like, they've never asked!"

Amberkeeper shook her head. "By now you should know that if you don't tell them, they'll never _ask_ about it. You can't keep pretending they're going to notice vague hints."

"They should've noticed by now!"

"Then talk with them face to face. _They_ are not mind readers."

"Well then, let's go to the city so I can tell them!"

_He got me._ An idea came to her mind to have an excuse not to go. "So, were you paying attention to where they went?" she said, expecting her brother didn't do so, to say they didn't know where their parents went anyway.

"Um… Sandcarrion?" he said.

Amberkeeper was surprised, not expecting him to answer correctly. "Oh, so you did pay attention."

"I know! I can be pretty surprising sometimes!" Firebringer grinned at his sister. "It was a lucky guess."

"So, you weren't paying attention," she said, annoyed she couldn't take back that she already had told him he was correct.

Firebringer nodded. "Yup! But our parents should. So, are we going to the city?"

_By the snakes. I must try something else. _She sighed. "Okay, but you need to focus. Any signs of distress and we're out, understood?"

Firebringer cheerfully nodded. "Yeah! What could go wrong in a place with so many possibilities?"

"Um," said Amberkeeper, "Evil dragons, dangerous places, maybe burning buildings, or criminals." She wasn't about to tell him about her recurrent dreams. She put on a fake prophetic voice to scare her brother. "_Beware the criminal dragons, beware the dangerous buildings. The two dragonets of nocturnal smoke and fire shall liberate their family from the dangerous meetings."_

Firebringer chortled at his sister's silly faked prophecy. "So, evil dragons who are criminals or dangerous places like buildings, but we're going to make it. Got it. What else? Do our parents count?"

_That backfired. _Amberkeeper resigned herself after her fake prophecy failed to scare her brother and groaned. "Let's go tomorrow in the morning."

–  
Chapter 2 –

Firebringer woke up earlier, excited to visit the city. _Visiting the city!_ _M__eeting the dangerous dragons! Seeing the dangerous buildings! No mom and dad to stop us from playing tag!_ He nodded to himself. _This is going to be a great day!_

"Amber. Amber!" Firebringer loudly yelled next to his still sleeping sister. She twitched her eyes.

"Augh. Stop it, Firey."

"Amber!" he exclaimed again, poking one of her arms with a fiery claw.

"OW!" She jumped straight to her feet. "What'd you need to do that for!?"

"I'm just sharing some fire with you to see if you'll wake up earlier that way!"

"You're not supposed to do it like that!"

"I don't know any other way, so burning it is!" said Firebringer, with a grin on his face.

"Wait until our parents hear about this," said Amberkeeper, scrubbing herself on the arm.

"They won't until you _wake up _and we leave to the city_._" Firebringer put up an obnoxious smirk.

"Hmm," responded Amberkeeper, annoyed. "Well then, let's go." Amberkeeper extended her wings and started flying, beating her wings as it was just something she wanted to get over with. Firebringer soon followed.

They flew for a few hours in silence. The city of Sandcarrion became visible, but somewhat far away. Amberkeeper stopped to rest and turned to her brother. Firebringer clumsily landed on the sand, a few meters away from her. "Why'd we stop?"

Amberkeeper ignored his question. "Once we enter the city, you need to _focus_. Okay? Or like, try to wander around that property you bought yourself on all three moons."

"Huh? I don't have land on the moons. Why are you telling me that?" replied Firebringer.

"Step ahead, where I am right now. Slowly. You'll see," she replied.

Firebringer tried to figure out from the disjointed images he saw flash in his sister's mind what she was up to, but the blur of things all mixed up in her mind confused him. "Hmm. Okay, let's..."

Firebringer took a single step ahead. Silence.

Two steps ahead. Silence.

Three ste – _Augh!_ Firebringer was swarmed by many loud voices that formed a chaotic cacophony on his skull. He clutched his head, trying to calm the sudden deluge of personalities invading his thoughts. "OKAY!" he exclaimed. "I'M... OKAY! WEIRD LUNAR PLOT! I GET IT!"

He felt unable to focus his own thoughts.

"I ARE DO THIS!" He showed his teeth while trying to smile, putting his own talons back on the sand. The discord of the crowd seemed to intermingle with his own thought processes.

_I'm SO – OW! - glad you're – MY HEAD! – here! I'll never – I AM The winnER! - see them aga – LET ME THINK! - No buyers tod – STOP! - Amber is… - Where are the – NO! - cactuses – PINEAPPLES! FOR SALE! - in this – MANGOES! - town? - I'm going to – What a good – KILL – SHUT – joke! - UP – YOU_

He had a hard time following any train of thought at all. He wanted to put them to rest. All the voices. He wanted to find the dragons responsible for every shout in his head and turn off the candles.

Firebringer tried to distract himself in the same way he always did whenever his mother read them a book. He started concentrating on himself, looking at the sky absent-mindlessly like his sister often did. The voices started to dim, remaining in the background like a loud howl that blended together. The musings didn't go away, but they dulled just enough to let him function.

Amberkeeper looked at him, then pointed at the city with the tip of her snout, trying to communicate with him. Firebringer was still settling down.

"Are you okay?" asked Amberkeeper, worried.

"I'm doing great!" Firebringer chuckled while his left eye was twitching. "I don't keep thinking that nobody's bought my pineapples today! Or that I'm gonna _kill_ that son of a snake! Or that I lost all of his supplies!"

"That's somewhat of a relief. If you need to leave, I'll run off with you, okay?" Amberkeeper said. She started taking some steps ahead, guiding him.

They walked into the market of Sandcarrion, where many SandWings went about their day. Firebringer started to hear the crowd with his own ears, trying to mute the thoughts as much as he could. It was impossible to focus on a single dragon.

Firebringer followed his sister while blabbering. "It's fine! I'm completely functional! Just one of the crowds. No weird screaming or head clutching! Just a normal SkyWing on a normal day! Hahahaha! Why, my dear NightWing sister, you look like any other dragon!" He nervously chuckled. A SandWing that was passing by looked at both siblings, disturbed for a moment. Firebringer snarled at the bystander and turned back to his sister while the SandWing skipped ahead after his reaction. "Huh. Not many SkyWings or NightWings around here."

"Hmm, not really," said Amberkeeper. "We have to figure out where this 'Badger' is." She sat on the sand like a cat and wrapped her tail around her talons, examining the crowd of SandWings roaming through the market, evaluating the situation.

She settled her eyes on one among the crowd. "That one," she said, pointing at a scrawny SandWing with pale scales and an angry face. "He's going to help us."

Firebringer tried looking across the multitude of SandWings. So many SandWings! He'd never seen one before. Nor been among a crowd. Pointing a finger in a general direction didn't make things easier for him, though.

"Amber, how am I supposed to know what dragon you're referring to?" he asked, lifting his head trying to look over the crowd.

"Oh, right, sorry. See that dragon there, with the mango stand?"

Firebringer examined the market, trying to figure out what mango stand she was talking about. There were like, three of them, he figured. He'd never seen a mango.

"Hey Amber."

"Yes?"

"Which of those are mango stands?"

Amberkeeper stared blankly at Firebringer for a moment. Her brother hadn't seen the same vision she had. It's something that drove her crazy sometimes – she'd see her brother sometimes figure out her most obscure feelings but fail to see the mental image of a fruit. She couldn't blame him now, knowing that he'd be overwhelmed by the crowd, but she also hated explaining things to him after she had become used to her brother often just pulling those explanations out of her head.

"Uh… See that corner? Go across it. You'll see a SandWing with very pale scales that will be playing with a mango on his right hand."

Firebringer twitched an eye, not sure how to take his sister's explanation. "Okay I'll – I'll handle it!"

He crossed into the market and walked to the corner his sister pointed to. For a moment, he had lost his sense of orientation as the crowd turned into a blur. He couldn't focus himself. He took slow steps among the crowd while the many voices in his head felt as if they could make his skull explode at any moment.

But that was the place his sister was referring to. That was the SandWing that was playing with a fruit on his right hand. He approached the SandWing cautiously until he caught their attention.

"What do you want?" they said.

"S-sir! Um… Hello! What is your name?" He said, trying to remember the few lessons on being polite he had received from his sister.

The SandWing appraised Firebringer. "For you, freaky looking SkyWing, it's Sunburn. We don't see many of your type around here."

"S-sir Sandburn. Um –"

"_Sunburn. _Remember that."

"Sunburn! Say, do you know of anyone called 'Badger'?"

"Badger? Hah! I've never heard of them." said Sunburn, dismissively. "Unless you have any business with me, go away."

Firebringer briefly turned back to his sister, who gave him a wink and a nod, then pressed both front talons together, urging him to pressure the dragon.

"I'm… pretty sure that you know who this 'Badger' is, sir."

"Stop insisting, kid. I don't know who you're talking about. Go get bitten by a snake."

_Three moons. Just answer already. _He tried to take the information out of him with his mind reading, but the crowd didn't allow him to. It was too invasive. A bit too negative. Firebringer longed for the voices to be silent so he could just pull the information out of this dragon's mind. He turned towards his sister, expecting guidance. She pressed her talons together again.

Firebringer didn't feel he had any extra tools other than insistence. "Sir, Sunburn. I demand of you to tell me where this 'Badger' is, or I'll be forced to hurt you," demanded Firebringer, as his headspace started burning.

"Scram already! I don't know who you're talking about!"

Firebringer felt his own self-control slip through the noise when his patience suddenly and unexpectedly worn off. He jumped on top of the dragon and rubbed his scales against Sunburn's as the smell of burning remains immediately came off.

Sunburn was screaming, "GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME! I'LL TELL YOU, GET OFF ME!"

Firebringer jumped off as the crowd noises briefly became silent. He looked around him, aware of himself once more. He feared his own slip. He watched the burn marks he had left all over the body of the SandWing that was twitching on the floor in pain. He comprehended the pain he had inflicted on this uninviting, innocent dragon.

"He's in the – in the – in the building next to the market's back alley! The bar!" said Sunburn, with fear on his voice. The burn marks on his limbs and belly appeared as if his scales had turned to scorching red ash.

The crowd around them was astounded. They had all turned their eyes to Firebringer as their collective thoughts all collectively turned against him. The loud and noisy song of a thousand minds started performing in his head again.

_No, wait, I didn't do this on purpose! _

_Shut up!_

_I don't want to hurt you!_

_SHUT UP OR I'M GOING TO SILENCE YOU!_

The voices of the crowd overwhelmed Firebringer. Scared of what he'd do, he took flight. He turned away from the city until he couldn't hear the crowd any longer. Firebringer sat down on the sand and threw himself on the floor, belly up. Amberkeeper sat down next to him.

"Did you find out where Badger is?" asked Amberkeeper.

Firebringer breathed in, trying to calm himself down. It was the worst feeling in the world. It was the best feeling in the world. A moment of relief facilitated by violence. A slip of judgment he couldn't overlook.

"I did. Did you know I was going to do that?" asked Firebringer. Not being able to hear his sister's thoughts clearly right now felt like a blessing of the moons. He could enjoy a moment of distinctness of his own thoughts.

"It was a possibility," she said. "But I expected you to be able to control yourself, and maybe just intimidate him instead."

"I'm sorry! How about you try to contain yourself when you can barely think?" Firebringer exclaimed.

"Well, you can be pretty surprising sometimes." She gave him a malicious grin. "The good thing is that nobody will want to mess with you."

Firebringer turned around, letting his belly rest on the sand, sulking. "I could've _killed him!_ There was a moment where I couldn't hear any of the minds in my head when I did that and –"

"There, there," said Amberkeeper, interrupting his train of thought with a grimace. "You don't have to bury yourself for it. Here, let me do it for you." She started throwing some sand on his back.

"Very funny," he replied, with a tone of indignation in his voice.

"So, are we going back to the city?"

Firebringer sat down, letting the sand that accumulated on his back slide back to the ground, putting both forelegs between his back legs. "I don't know if I want to hurt anyone else."

"We'll never find our parents if we don't come back to the city," she said. "Things are going to get a bit dangerous for us."

"Really?"

Amberkeeper nodded dismissively and looked back into the sky. "Meetings are dangerous."

Firebringer got up. He looked at his sister and looked into her eyes. "Okay. Let's go."

Amberkeeper turned back to her brother and tilted her head in concern. "Are you sure you're going to be fine?"

Firebringer took off to the city, ignoring the question.

_I guess he is._

The siblings reached the market once more. The crowd had immediately started watching Firebringer as soon as he set foot. The uncomfortable stares of the dragons in the market were making Firebringer uneasy.

Amberkeeper hadn't even started to think about the weird looks everyone was giving them. She looked back at Firebringer, then sat down for a moment in the middle of the street upon noticing her brother's concern.

"Hey, why are we stopping?" asked Firebringer.

"One moment." Amberkeeper closed her eyes and tried to grasp at the future. _Is there a way to calm the crowd? _Even if she had joked about the crowd leaving him alone, upon realizing her brother was uncomfortable with the reactions he had caused, Amberkeeper tried to navigate through possible futures. She navigated the dungeon of fire that always seemed to veil the vision of what awaited her brother.

But, unless she found an animus to cure him of his menacing firescales, there wasn't any possibility of the crowd ever forgiving him. Worst of all, she could never see any future where her brother would be in control of himself because of it. But she'd never find any animus in Sandcarrion on her own. She had to figure out something else. _I promise I'll find a way to help you, fiery. But first, we must get through the present._

"Nothing," responded Amberkeeper, to the confusion of Firebringer. "The building we're looking for is over there," she pointed, not too far away. Firebringer tilted his head in confusion.

The siblings kept walking through the market, until they reached the stone building. They both stared at each other in front of the open arch that led inside a bar. They nodded to each other. Firebringer went in first.

There were wooden pillars that supported the roof. Furniture and SandWings. Walls made from stone with small windows that let some of the light of the sun enter the building. The rays of light coming from the outside were visible from the suspended dust. Many different SandWings were drinking their lives away, chatting and having fun.

"Darn it, Sandy!" they heard a SandWing complaining to the bardragon. "I don't really want to do the work today!"

"We got work to do, Sandstorm. There's just no time for singing and dancing." The bardragon, Sandy, turned her head at the two siblings. "What? What's this?"

"Uh oh," said Amberkeeper.

Sandstorm turned towards them and examined them for a moment. "Dragonets aren't allowed here. Leave now."

Firebringer stepped forward. "S-sorry sir! We're um..."

Amberkeeper suddenly saw his next words. _Looking for Badger_. Which would call some unwanted attention. _Uh oh. I hope he -_

"We're looking for Badger!" exclaimed Firebringer.

_Three moons_. _I should've stopped him._

"Badger! What are two dragonets doing looking for him?" asked Sandstorm. Meanwhile, Amberkeeper noticed that one of the SandWings among the crowd started paying attention.

"We're looking for our parents," replied Firebringer.

"Your parents?" asked Sandy. She examined the two unusual dragonets. "Badger comes here frequently, but he's not here today."

"No, wait, are you the two hybrid dragonets that are the children of that SkyWing and that NightWing?" asked Sandstorm. "You look even freakier than I expected."

_Freakier than I expected. Are we really that weird?_

Amberkeeper saw the first SandWing give some instructions to another dragon next to them. The second SandWing nodded and moved in to block the exit. She saw two minutes into the future and wasn't sure if there was a way to avoid what would happen.

_Uh oh. Should I do something? Firebringer, I hope you're paying attention…_

"We could sell you to Queen Burn at an incredible premium," said one of the SandWings next to the arch, covered in scars. They slammed their drink on the table. "Why don't you two come with us?"

Sandy exclaimed, "Hey, leave those two alone, I don't want trouble here today."

The images of what would happen if they got sold to Burn flashed in her mind very quickly. Burn would kill them and stuff them to become no more than exhibits at a museum for their strange visage. A dragon that never saw the others as anything other than objects for her own ends, or no more than potential entertainment material. She had had that nightmare once, before she came to Sandcarrion. She didn't want it to become reality, but…

"We just want to see Badger, sir," said Firebringer.

Amberkeeper felt as if she couldn't move a muscle.

The SandWing put up a sly smile. "I'll take them to Badger," he replied, jumping on top of Amberkeeper, pinning her down.

"Amber!" shouted Firebringer.

"You're not going to fool me. Those are firescales. You're going to do exactly what I tell you," said the SandWing.

Firebringer turned to his sister. He was getting more and more stressed by the second. He closed his eyes, trying to focus. He breathed in and…

_Fwoosh._ Firebringer shot a blast of fire. The SandWing spun around leaving Amberkeeper on top. The flame hit her face.

Firebringer lost his self-control again at Amberkeeper's howl of pain.

He leaped and grabbed the SandWing's face for what he had done, clawing both of his eyes as he let Amberkeeper go, thrashing claws and tail trying to hit anything.

Firebringer took some height and landed on their back. As the SandWing's scales hissed from the burns, Firebringer grabbed the barbed tail and pulled it off. The SandWing screamed in pain.

The other SandWing that had been blocking the entrance tried to pull Firebringer away. They tried grabbing his legs, burning their talons. Firebringer clawed at the neck of the SandWing until they were finally dead on the ground in a bloodless, cauterized death.

Firebringer felt the voices of the crowd fade away along with a solitary, pained thought. Everyone had gone quiet for a moment.

The other SandWing ran away as Firebringer roared, jumping towards Amberkeeper to check on her. His worry, he expected, seemed to silence the world around him for a minute. Amberkeeper got up, unable to open her eyes, trying to find Firebringer.

"Not another dead dragon…" Sandy jumped over the counter to check on the two dragonets.

Firebringer turned and hissed at her. "Stay away from us!"

"I'm just here to help," said Sandy. "We need to get those burns looked at as soon as you can." She overlooked over her shoulder to check on the charred SandWing. She grabbed Amberkeeper's arm and headed outside. "Sandstorm, take care of the place while I'm gone!"

Sandstorm flailed. "H-hey! Don't do this to me! There's no time for – "

"Yeah, okay, bye, good luck, get rid of the corpse before Badger arrives!" she waved, leaving the bar in a hurry.

Firebringer, annoyed by the dragon, followed her with hope that everything would be okay.

–  
Chapter 3 –

The three of them walked together through the market. Firebringer struggled to follow Sandy without burning anyone. She had Amberkeeper by the arm, guiding the two siblings to a river towards the south, far away from Sandcarrion. A small hut made from palm and willow leaves, lifted up by wood was right next to two trees that grew papayas.

A RainWing with pink scales all over their body calmly balanced on a hammock, taking a nap under the sun.

"Cocoa!" exclaimed Sandy. The RainWing opened their eyes and took both arms from behind their head, then got off the hammock. Their scales turned yellow.

"Sandy! What brings you here?" said Cocoa.

"We've got a case of burning. We need your skills," Sandy responded.

"Oh! Mind if I see the patient?"

"She's right here." Sandy gave Amberkeeper a slight pull. She kept quiet.

The RainWing looked at Amberkeeper. "My, my! That is a nasty burn. Two cases of severe burning today."

Firebringer perked up, worried that there might've been someone else burning dragons. "Two cases?"

Cocoa nodded. "Yes, yes indeed. Two cases! And I'm almost out of salve." The RainWing looked at Firebringer. "Interesting! Are you the SkyWing that my other patient talked about?"

Firebringer stared at Cocoa. "SkyWing... Oh, yes! That would be me," said Firebringer, pausing for a moment as to why they asked that question. _Oh. I burnt the other one. Oops._

"Then I must ask you to please stay away from my home while I attend your sister." said Cocoa, with a warm, beaming face. "Come, miss, come with me."

Sandy let go of Amberkeeper, and Cocoa took her talon and pulled her into the hut. "Go ahead, Cocoa. I'll take care of this dragonet."

Sandy and Firebringer sat outside silently. Firebringer was annoyed again at having his firescales stop him from going in the hut. It was unfair. It was an accident. He found no comfort on thinking that Sandy was "taking care of him". No. He was dangerous and didn't need anyone to be looking after him.

But he was worried for his sister.

Amberkeeper, still blinded, walked with Cocoa across the hut, and felt the texture of the leaves beneath her. The soft leaves provided a comfortable contrast to the sand she had always been used to. She heard some moans across the room.

"Very well, my dear dragonet! Let's begin!" exclaimed Cocoa.

Amberkeeper kept still, awaiting the process would at any time. She heard the RainWing shuffle through their belongings, until she heard an "Aha!" The RainWing took some steps towards her and heard a plank of wood picking up a creamy substance. Soon after, she felt a soft, refreshing lotion being put on her burnt scales.

"What a lovely scale tint, I must say," said Cocoa, grabbing another scoop of the balm.

Amberkeeper chuckled at the compliment, not sure how to handle it. "Thanks, mister…?"

"Miss Cocoa for you!" she said with some pride in her voice. "You look awfully young! How old are you two, exactly?"

"Thanks, Miss Cocoa," said Amberkeeper. "Three years. We're three years old."

"I see! How did a three-year-old dragonet ended up with this bad a burn?" asked Cocoa.

"My brother accidentally burnt me while trying to defend me from a bad dragon," responded Amberkeeper, fiddling with some of the leaves underneath her.

"Ah, I see! I see. An accident, then. What were you two doing roaming my friend Sandy's bar? It's not a place for dragonets like you."

"We're looking for our parents. Apparently, they met a dragon called Badger. We hoped we could find him there," responded Amberkeeper.

"I see, I see. The two of you should stay away from that dragon. What did you say your name was?"

"Amberkeeper," she responded.

Amberkeeper heard some more moaning next to her.

"Darn it. Where's my mango?" said the voice.

"I'm afraid it's charred, Mister Sunburn." responded Cocoa.

"Aw, snakes. It was my last mango, too," lamented Sunburn.

"I can offer you a papaya!" said Cocoa, eagerly.

"Ugh. No thanks. I've tried them before. The seeds are way too nasty for me," complained the SandWing.

"Hmm. You're not supposed to eat the seeds. Quite the worldly SandWing, you are," Cocoa mocked. She had stopped applying the lotion for a brief moment while responding to Sunburn.

The pain of the burns started to fade away. Amberkeeper opened her eyes and saw Cocoa, still applying some salve, and Sunburn, who was bandaged with several leaves all over his body.

Amberkeeper jumped. "A-aren't you the SandWing my brother mauled!?"

"Your… Your brother!?" Sunburn suddenly sat on the lump of leaves he was resting on.

"Shush there, Sunburn. You shouldn't move until your wounds heal," asserted Cocoa.

Sunburn scowled at Amberkeeper. "I'm going to have a word with that dragonet once I feel fine again! Just you wait until I get that salamander in my –"

"In your claws. Okay, enough of that, Sunburn," ordered Cocoa.

Amberkeeper kept quiet for a moment. _My brother… How am I supposed to explain to this dragon that my brother can't control his temper, and that there's nothing we can do about it?_ She thought. _It's not something that you could easily forgive either. He's probably going to have to live with those burns, but then again, so am I…_

"There, Miss Amberkeeper. You should rest in here and avoid exposing yourself to direct sunlight for a few hours. I'm going to talk to your brother and Sandy, understood?" Cocoa said and turned towards the SandWing. "As for you, wait patiently. You're free to talk, but you're in far too poor a condition to move."

Sandy and Firebringer kept their silence for well over an hour. Firebringer was making shapes in the sand. Sandy was basking while they waited for Cocoa and Amberkeeper.

"Had you ever seen a RainWing before?" asked Sandy.

"Huh?" said Firebringer, thinking about how discrete and silent this part of the town was. "Oh, no, I hadn't."

Sandy smiled. "It's odd. Until I met Cocoa, I had all these ideas about how RainWings were supposed to be. Lazy. Analphabets. Fruit-munching. In a way, it turned out to be true, but not in the way I expected."

"What do you mean?" said Firebringer.

"Yesterday afternoon, Badger came into the bar, claiming he had captured a pair of outlaws that had escaped justice. A SkyWing and a NightWing." she said.

"Our parents!" yelled Firebringer.

"For a moment, I thought he was talking about you and your sister, but something didn't add up." She said.

"What was that?"

"Badger was mocking them. 'Our dragonets!' he would mock, 'They can't function without us!' But here you are. Dangerous and determined to save them from their mistakes." Sandy smiled. "Not exactly what I thought of SkyWings or NightWings. I thought I'd never see either of them in anything other than my imagination, living off in a faraway land I'd never see."

Firebringer yawned. "Our parents really said that? Miss, where are you going with this?"

Sandy rested on the sand, stretching herself out. "Nothing." she said. "Sometimes you don't know someone because you've spent no time with them, but sometimes, you don't know someone because you've spent too long with them."

Firebringer tilted his head at the SandWing and rested on the sand as well.

Cocoa came out of the hut, but suddenly stopped. A bulky SandWing walking towards her hut caught her attention. Her scales quickly turned green as she ran to Sandy and Firebringer. "You two! Sandy, come with me. You, dragonet, you need to hide."

"What's wrong?" asked Sandy.

"Over there," said Cocoa. "Badger's coming."

–  
Chapter 4 –

_Badger! What is he doing here!?_

Sandy had always had an uneasy relationship with Badger. The dragon would often frequent her bar and buy drinks, picking up fights with the other customers and sending them to Sandcarrion's prison at a whim.

There were also all of those times she and Cocoa had been enforcing justice under his nose. But he probably doesn't know about that. She hoped.

Firebringer jumped to his talons. "Wh-where do I hide!?" he said.

"Go behind the hut and pray to the moons that you went unnoticed," said Cocoa. "We'll handle this."

Cocoa turned towards Sandy. "I'll tell the other dragonet to hide in one of the other rooms," she said, winking at Sandy. "Make some time for us."

Sandy nodded. She trusted Cocoa. She'd come up with a way to deal with Badger. Sandy, and she figured, Cocoa, had a feeling Badger was here for something important. The only unusual thing that had happened were the dragonets, and if he has the parents, he would want the dragonets.

She didn't want to think of what they'd do if Badger were to send them to serve one of the SandWing princesses.

Firebringer quickly ran behind the hut. Cocoa ran back into it. Sandy got up and erased Firebringer's drawings on the sand and scrambled to meet up with Badger.

Badger perked up at the sight of the bardragon. "Sandy! What are you doing here at this time? How curious. Isn't it time for you to attend the bar?" he said, smiling at her.

"Funny story, that," said Sandy. "Cocoa said she wanted to give me a small gift to get by the day easier."

"A papaya, right? Oh, Cocoa, growing papayas in the desert just to hang a hammock," responded Badger, sneering. "Say, it's interesting. Didn't you know about the two burnt dragons everyone's talking about?"

Sandy's heart sunk. _There's no way around it. He may already know why I'm here._ "Oh, yeah..." _I have to think quickly. If he believes I'm lying to him… _"Who told you that?" _But now I know why he's here._

"Sandy! You know Sandcarrion belongs to me, I know everything that's going on in town, especially when the townsfolk couldn't shut up about this dragonet with firescales," he said, maintaining his contemptuous smile. "What a waste, isn't it? Do you think Queen Scarlet's young monster escaped its cell?"

_Queen Scarlet's young monster?_ Thought Sandy, her mind suddenly racing. _Could it really be?_ _Am I helping a dangerous dragon? How old even are these two? Did I just jump in to save a remorseless murderer?_ Sandy became hesitant. _Could Badger be doing something good for once? The dragonet killed a dragon. How could I be so naive to just go with them? Are their parents with Queen Scarlet?_

"I don't think so, no." Sandy looked away from badger, and into the hut. "Say, badger," she said. "What are you here for?"

_It seems so unlikely…_

Badger walked past Sandy and towards the RainWing's hut. "My favourite mango dealer, Sunburn, happens to not be in his regular stand," he said. "I explicitly told him to tell me about any strange dragons that found their way to the market a few days ago."

Sunburn. That must be the other burnt dragon. Sandy walked in front of Badger to stall him. "So you're here to talk to him?" she said.

"You know perfectly well why I'm here, Sandy," he said, stopping his march due to Sandy's interference. "A charred dead body came out of your bar, and you know violent individuals fascinate me."

"W-well, you know, there's nothing going on. I'm just worried for Sunburn, you know?" she said. _If I can get him to think I'm here for him, I can probably get away with this… And find out if this really is Queen Scarlet's psychopathic dragon. They were defending themselves, weren't they?_

"Worried for that scamp? When have you ever been worried for anyone?" he said.

_All the time,_ thought Sandy. _It's you who I don't have any sympathy towards._ "I don't know. It just felt like the right thing to do."

"Hah!" Badger laughed. "Sorry for your sudden surge of compassion, Sandy. Now, if you don't mind…" Badger nudged Sandy away, and continued walking towards the hut.

Sandy calmly followed Badger into the hut. _That was probably enough time to hide. If Badger gets his hands on them, who knows what he'd do with such a vicious dragonet._

Resting on the outermost room was Cocoa, who was checking the still moaning Sunburn and his bandages. Upon Badger's entrance, she put up a duplicitous smile as her scales turned yellow. "Badger! What brings you to my humble hut?"

"No need to play fool with me, RainWing," he said, dismissively. "Let me talk to Sunburn."

Sunburn quickly jumped on his pile of leaves upon hearing the dragon's voice, and sat, looking at him. "B-badger!" he said. "S-sir, there's no more mangoes today so – "

"Shhh," said Badger. "I'm here to ask you about those burns. Not for my mangoes."

Sunburn gulped. "What is it, sir?"

"May I ask you why is it that you have not reported who did this to you?" said Badger, smirking.

Cocoa stepped in. "Badger, sir, I must say Sunburn is burnt all over his body," she said, her scales turning orange, "and I don't have enough SALVE to put those bandages on again. I ask you to let him rest easy for now."

"Silence, RainWing," he said, pushing Sunburn to the hut's wall, and putting his arm against Sunburn's neck. "Let him speak for himself."

"S-sir! Please, stop," he said, grasping at his neck. "Nothing's happened today!"

"I must kindly ask you again," said Badger, threatening Sunburn with his own barbed tail. "Who are you keeping away from me?"

_Did this dragon meet those two? What did he do to end up burnt like this if he was keeping them from Badger?_ _I can't leave this as it is. Badger may very well kill this dragon if I don't do something. _Sandy intervened, and lifted her own tail to threat Badger. "Badger, stop. He's not keeping anyone from you. Stop this, now."

Badger glanced at Sandy. "Who are _you_ keeping away from me, Sandy? I've been your faithful customer for years, and you're not the one to just do _nothing_ when a dead, charred SandWing just appears on your bar," he said. "Sandstorm told me you brought two dragonets to this place. You either tell me, or it's your head next. These individuals are running around killing and burning dragons and one of the victims doesn't even want to _tell me_ who did this to them."

Sandy backed off._ Should I tell him?_ _It was either the dragonets or Sunburn, but I'm no fighter to do this on my own…_

Cocoa looked away from the scene and noticed some smoke coming from the other room and elbowed her. "Sandy, maybe we should leave these two to their business."

"What!? No! We can't just leave this dragon to – "

"Sandy, please shut up and trust me," said Cocoa, with another beaming smile.

Sandy tilted her head at Cocoa. _What IS she thinking? Is this her plan?_

Cocoa grabbed a small pouch on a table and stood next to the exit, waiting for Sandy. _Okay. Let's roll with it._ Sandy nodded, and walked outside of the hut with her friend. Cocoa sat down next to her a distance away with a grin as her scales became pink once more while she hanged the pouch on her neck. "Wait for it..." she said.

_Fwoosh._ The hut had quickly been filled with a dark, dense smoke. A struggle could be heard inside, as Amberkeeper and Sunburn ran out of the place. Amberkeeper suddenly ran for her brother, still behind the hut. "Firebringer, we have to go, NOW!"

Firebringer had kept doing shapes in the sand when his sister had appeared out of nowhere. "H-huh? What's happening?"

"Just follow me!" she said. "Cocoa just saved the five of us!"

Firebringer quickly nodded and ran off. As soon as Cocoa saw them turn around the corner, she took flight. Firebringer, Amberkeeper and Sunburn quickly followed.

Sandy, shocked, started flying away with them as the hut caught on fire. Badger stepped out of the hut and started pushing away the debris that had fallen on top of him, hurting his wings.

Cocoa sighed as they all flew away together. "I wasn't looking forward to having to build another hut," she said. "It's so much work."

"Thanks, Miss Papay – err, Miss Cocoa." said Amberkeeper. "Sorry about your hut."

"Don't worry about it, Amberkeeper," responded Cocoa. "What matters is that you two are safe. Good thing Sunburn told me about you before you arrived."

Badger, trying to run behind them, unable to keep up, yelled "You! RainWing, your days are counted! Enjoy resting in the sun, because you won't be doing it for much longer!" he exclaimed.

Cocoa laughed as they outpaced the dragon. "As if."

As the group arrived back in Sandcarrion's market, everyone's attention went back for the RainWing and the fiery dragonet. Firebringer couldn't help but feel overwhelmed again. He looked at Cocoa, who was dealing with the attention by completely ignoring it.

As they walked through the market once more, a few more whispers could be heard regarding the RainWing. Firebringer could feel it. They were _afraid_ of her, just like they were afraid of _him. _And he wouldn't know why.

As they arrived at the bar once more, the SandWings within got nervous as they saw the five of them together.

"Don't worry," said Sandy. "They're with me."

Sunburn turned towards Sandy. "We don't really have much time before Badger comes back."

"I know," said Sandy. "We're here because I have to ask something of Sandstorm. The rest of you should leave the city as soon as you can. I need a bit of information."

Sunburn sighed. "We need a place to hide for the night, at least, while you gather information."

Firebringer stepped up. "We could go to our oasis!"

"An oasis?" said Sunburn. "Where exactly?"

"It's just a couple hours from here," said Firebringer. "Amber, can you take the others? Me and Sandy will be right behind you."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" said Amberkeeper. "You tend to become violent around other dragons. You're going to call more unwanted attention if you keep hurting others."

Firebringer paused for a moment. "It's fine. I can do this. I can barely keep my head together here, but I'll never be able to get over this if I run away."

"Okay. You can do this, Fiery," said Amberkeeper. "Cocoa, Sunburn, let's go." She took flight once more to go back to the oasis that was their home.

Some things seemed to bother her on the way back. _Brother… How did you not know of Cocoa's plan?_ She thought. _Did his mindreading turn off?_ _Did it turn back on after the escape? Is there a chance he'll end up hurting me or our new friends again?_

–  
Chapter 5 –

Amberkeeper guided Cocoa and Sunburn to the oasis while Sandy and Firebringer went to the bar to gather some information.

_Everything's so loud again, _thought Firebringer_. I can't wait until all of this noise goes away again._ Firebringer summoned as much fortitude he could to distract himself from the minds of the dragons around him. But it was time already for him to practice being among the crowd.

Sandy walked over to the counter to meet Sandstorm again. Sandstorm was cleaning up some of the glasses. "Hey, Sandy. Has anything happened? Did Badger find you?"

Sandy nodded. "Yeah. Badger came to Cocoa's place." Sandy rested both of her arms on the counter.

"Oh! Uh, everything went well, then?" said Sandstorm. "I hope he didn't cause much trouble."

Sandy smiled. "Let's say the situation between me and Badger got a bit more complicated."

Sandstorm sighed. "Sandy, you know Badger was already looking for any justification to lock us up."

"About that," said Sandy. "I need to know if you can get us into Badger's prison."

Sandstorm got up violently. "What?! What do you need to get in the prison for?!"

"Because," said Sandy. "There's a chance that…" Sandy looked back at Firebringer to see if he was paying attention. Firebringer was distracted looking and pondering at the crowd. "That dragonet over there could be Queen Scarlet's champion."

"Sandy! You promised me you wouldn't get into any more trouble! We settled here to _avoid_ dealing with all of that, and now you're going to risk yourself!?" Sandstorm exclaimed. He glimpsed at Firebringer and lowered his voice "What does that even have to with getting in prison?"

"We have to help them find their parents. Or at least find out if it's true that it's Scarlet's champion or not." Sandy glanced at the crowd. "I know it's dangerous, Stormy. We remind that to ourselves all the time, but no matter where we go, there's someone going through a bad time around us."

"That's not your responsibility, Sandy! It's not one dragon's responsibility other than the SandWing sisters." Sandstorm put both of his talons on the counter and lowered his head. "You do not need any reason to get on Badger's bad side."

"Sandstorm, you know what Badger does with any war refugees that can still fight. Imagine what he'd do with a dragonet with firescales," said Sandy. "We can't ignore it. And if this really is Queen Scarlet's champion, that puts all of Sandcarrion in danger. She'll come here and wreck the city."

"But why us?!" He said, agitated. "Why would _you_ have to be the one to risk yourself by going against Badger? Or be the one that tries to prevent a crisis?"

Sandy turned back at Sandstorm. "I…" Sandy didn't have an answer off the top of her head. She lowered her head and looked at the counter. "Cocoa… Cocoa already destroyed her home here and chose to risk herself and her standing to Badger to keep those dragonets away from him. I have to help her."

Sandstorm groaned. "That RainWing? You're going to risk yourself over a RainWing?"

"Yup. Cocoa has been my friend ever since she arrived here and planted the seeds of the papaya trees more than a year ago." responded Sandy. "Besides, we can do a better job than Badger. I'm sure we're already in trouble." She winked at Sandstorm.

Sandstorm crossed his arms. "Well, I'll get them there myself, then. You stay away from the prison, okay?" He reached for Sandy's talon and grabbed it.

Sandy grabbed his talon back and pressed her head against his. "I knew I could count on you." She turned towards the SandWings on the crowd. "Everyone, the bar is closed for tonight."

After much complaining about an early closure, Sandy and Sandstorm started getting everyone out of the bar. When she had trouble getting them out, after hearing complaints that it was way too early, even the most unwilling SandWing left the bar as soon as Sandy called Firebringer to stand next to her. Sandstorm was terrified of what the dragonet could do. He had found yet another thing to respect Sandy for, and how she seemed to have no trouble ordering him around.

They flew back to the oasis together. While traveling, Firebringer read the thoughts of Sandstorm and Sandy. The two had already gone through many trials of stealth and had ran away many times before. Stealing things to survive. Striking deals with dangerous individuals. They had ran away from the war together, and they both hoped this would be the last thing they'd do in that line of work, but they also knew it wouldn't. Nevertheless, the faith they had chosen to have in each other seemed to be stronger than their doubts.

Firebringer couldn't help but drop a few tears of worry for them after understanding the things they had already gone through, and how they understood the situation they were put in.

"What happened at Cocoa's place, anyway?" asked Sandstorm.

"Oh! Right! You see, Cocoa was goofing off, as usual, when…" Sandy started telling the story of what had happened. The story turned to banter and a casual chat, as they distracted themselves from the situation they were in.

Firebringer looked at his side to find Amberkeeper only to notice that effectively, he was alone. He looked at the wide-open desert he was flying over, gazing upon the land that he never thought of as home, and contemplated the sky, longing for his family to be whole once again. "_As long as you're together, you'll be fine."_

_What if I hurt her by accident? _

_What if I lash out at her?_

_What if someone else tries to hurt us again?_

_Will I have to silence the voices one by one until the danger is gone?_

Sunburn looked at his charred limbs and body, still covered by the loose leaves and salve Cocoa had applied on him. _That accursed SkyWing,_ _Why did you have to exist? And that dark dragonet. I should ask her a few questions, but first…_

Sunburn took a few uneasy steps towards Cocoa, who was sitting next to the oasis spring with green scales all over her body. "Uh," said Sunburn. "Um, Miss."

Cocoa turned to Sunburn. Cocoa's scales took on a bright orange. "Oh, it's you."

"It's me." Sunburn looked again at his wounds and sat next to Cocoa, focusing his eyes away from the RainWing and back at the pond. _Just do it. It shouldn't be too hard, _he thought. _She already saved my life twice._

"I just wanted to say, err..." Sunburn paused, leaving a brief moment of silence.

"Yes?" responded Cocoa, expecting.

"I-it's just that you saved my life twice today without knowing me and..."

"Oh, that," said Cocoa's as her thoughtful demeanor turned back into a smile as her scales turned bright indigo. "There's no need to thank me for that. Saving lives is my thing." Cocoa winked at Sunburn. "Try not to let those bandages fall off, dear."

Sunburn gave her an awkward stare. "Uh, yes. Yes. Thank you for that." _Ugh. Don't make it awkward, _he thought. _You're just thanking her for saving your life. Stop being so awkward and cutting people off, Sunburn._

Sunburn inhaled. "If you don't mind, we can talk later." _No. What are you doing. Don't make any compromises as your closing statements. Come on. You're making it worse_. "What I mean is I need to scram and talk to the dragonet."

Cocoa cackled. "Hah! Sure, it's fine. Thank you for talking to me."

Sunburn nodded. "Yeah. Thanks again."

He took some distance from the RainWing who seemed to be in a far better mood and glanced at Amberkeeper.

_She's young. Way too young. Why isn't she mad at her brother? He disfigured her face for the rest of her life and just called it off as an accident. I need to know what her deal is._

Sunburn approached the murky dragonet staring into the sky as the night started to set in, and the three moons of Pyrrhia revealed themselves above them.

"Hey, you," said Sunburn at the dragonet. "You're uh, Ambereater, aren't you?"

Amberkeeper blinked and turned to Sunburn. "It's Amberkeeper. Remember that." She smirked at him.

"Amberkeeper, right. I need to ask you about your brother," he said.

"I figured you would," Amberkeeper said, looking back at the moons. "I know what you want to ask."

"Huh?" said Sunburn, confused. _Does she, really?_

"My brother didn't hurt you on purpose, or so I hope." Her stare still seemed extremely distant.

"Yeah, okay, but don't think I'm going to forgive him."

Amberkeeper looked at Sunburn with a piercing gaze. "No, you won't, no matter what you ask me. I do know you need to know that my brother and I are part NightWing."

Sunburn stood in silence for a moment. "NightWings? So you can read minds and see the future?"

"My brother and I, respectively. He gets overwhelmed by a crowd. He can't control himself well because of that."

"And you expect me to believe you? That the all-powerful NightWings can't control their powers? Even in that case, I'm still not forgiving your brother."

Amberkeeper looked back at the sky. "No, I didn't expect you to. But I did hope you would. At least we escaped from two horrible fates, already. The ability to see the future isn't prescriptive."

"Pres… what? What is that supposed to mean?" _How is she so mature sounding? Didn't she say she was like, three years old?_

"The future can be changed, no matter how much you observe it," said Amberkeeper.

"Uh huh." Sunburn wasn't interested in that. "Yeah, I don't care. Did you or Cocoa come up with that plan back at the hut?" _She could've used her future vision to guarantee our safety._

"That was Cocoa," she responded. "I never would have been that brave."

_What is she talking about? Is bravery necessary when you can see the future?_

"Sorry, what? Didn't you start the fire?"

Amberkeeper let some smoke out of her mouth with a very weak flame. "With some patience, yes."

"Then what are you on about? You're a future-seer. You just helped us escape and even brought us back to your home when we could've been the most dangerous dragons you met." Sunburn pointed at her. "_You_ could perfectly well take on Badger on your own on bravery alone."

Amberkeeper let out her breath with that statement. "No," She paused. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

Sunburn sighed. "Look. The future isn't going to change if you just stand around doing nothing," said Sunburn. "I know that. Don't just rely on..." _That demented dragon._ "Well, where are your parents, even?"

"Badger was supposed to have a meeting with them a while ago. They hadn't come back, so we went to the city to try to find them," she said.

"Badger. Badger Badger Badger." Sunburn scratched his head. "Do you know anything about him, yet? You have any idea who you're facing?"

"Badger..." said Amberkeeper. "I had a dream where we join him. We forfeit our parents," she said, looking at Sunburn. "In that future, I lose Firebringer forever. There's another future. Where we fail to rescue our parents and we both die of either impalement, poisoning, have our faces clawed off, or I'm..." She touched her face, looking down at the sand. "Burnt alive."

She stopped to look at the sky again. "But in the future where he takes us in, he explains some of his story to us. He even helps us find an animus dragon. A SeaWing."

Sunburn tried to follow with his own sight whatever she was staring at on the sky. And he found nothing. _What is she even looking at? How is it like to see into the future?_ "Does he tell you about– "

"His debt, which he plans to pay with our parents? Yes. That he is a self-made dragon and ruled Sandcarrion for the sake of the many dragons that escaped the war, despite returning some of them straight back to it to avoid calling attention to himself? Yes. That my brother and I would be an asset for him where we could help him finish the war? Yes."

"Ending the war sounds like a good deal to me," said Sunburn. _I lost my family to it. And the dragonets of destiny couldn't come any sooner._

Amberkeeper looked back at Sunburn, teary eyed. "But our mother is returned to the Sky Kingdom and made to fight for her life, until she meets..." Amberkeeper couldn't finish her sentence.

Sunburn dawned with realization. "Queen Scarlet's champion?"

Amberkeeper nodded. "She'd be condemned to death by a burning death for the crime of having her own dragonet with firescales instead of killing it. And our father would also meet a burning death, condemned to die in the lava for escaping the island and putting the secrets of the NightWings in danger."

Sunburn winced. The memories of his parents leaving to fight in the succession war came back to him. He was abandoned. It was even worse to think he might have had a way to stop it that he never knew of.

_If I had the chance to save my own family, what would have I done? _Sunburn looked at Amberkeeper's eyes. _What dangers would have I faced? Would they have been fine with me sacrificing myself for them? Would I be a killer if I had to?_

He shook his head. _It's fine. I never knew them for long enough to do that. _He knew he was lying to himself. He didn't need to know them for long to them to be the primary memories that he thought of whenever he looked at the past. He wasn't unhappy with the life he had now, but he did wonder how things could've been different. This dragonet could see all of those possibilities.

Sunburn shook his head again to try and clear the flood of feelings he had about the situation. He knew what he would have wanted to do if he knew he could've stopped his parents from going to war.

He would've done anything to stop it. War be damned.

"Look, again. _My_ parents went missing in the war. When someone came and told me that they went missing, I ran away. For the longest time, I starved, and I begged until a kind dragon with a mango stand in the market took me in after much begging," he said. "He was old. Didn't have much more time to live, but they taught me how to run the mango stand. I found a way to stay alive. And then, Badger took me in, because I asked him to."

Amberkeeper looked at Sunburn. "What do you mean?"

"Your luck isn't going to change unless you do something about it," said Sunburn. "If I had known I could've done something, anything to prevent it, I would've done so. So you should start working for the future you want. If you don't want to be with Badger, fight to avoid it. If you want to try and find a way to find an animus through him, then do it. But stop beating yourself up and pretending that you'll like the outcome if you just let things happen."

Amberkeeper stopped for a moment, seemingly absorbing his words, and nodded. "Thanks Sunburn."

Sunburn blushed, looking back at Cocoa to avoid Amberkeeper's eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

–  
Chapter 6 –

Firebringer, Sandstorm and Sandy finally arrived at the oasis. As soon as they landed, Firebringer ran to meet with his sister and sat next to her. Cocoa and Sunburn met up with the two SandWings. They all gathered next to the siblings.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Cocoa.

Sandy elbowed Sandstorm. "Your turn."

Sandstorm cleared his throat, grabbed a stick and started drawing shapes in the sand. "The prison is not exactly a prison as much as a base of operations," he said. "The first thing you must know is that the base of operations is very close to a series of dormitories that effectively operate as barracks."

"Barracks? What's that?" asked Firebringer.

"That's where the soldiers and guards of the building that I'm going to call 'The Lung' for now on, sleep," said Sandstorm, matter-of-factly.

"The lung?" asked Amberkeeper.

"Because once we're near it we won't have time to breathe," he said, drawing a few more shapes around the drawing. "You should enter through the ground level, as these are observation towers. There's a blind spot, but if you take any height, they'll immediately blow a horn that will alert the whole base."

Firebringer became uneasy and got ahead of Sandstorm's next words. "So..." He stared straight at Sandstorm. "We attack at night?" He turned towards Sandy. "And we're supposed to take down Badger, and we can't fly?"

Sandstorm nodded. "Yes, that's correct. Badger houses himself on the second floor of The Lung. We inevitably pass in front of him on the way to the third floor."

Sunburn lied on the sand and crossed both front arms. "I need you to know that you can't count on me for going in with you." He turned his head. "They'll identify me immediately."

"That's fine," said Amberkeeper. "Fiery and I should do this on our own."

Sandy and Sandstorm awkwardly stared at each other. Sunburn looked away.

"The two of you are too young to be doing this alone," said Cocoa scratching her fangs, her scales still violet. "I'm going with you. I'll take Badger down."

Sandy gazed at Cocoa intensely right after she said that. Firebringer, curious, saw through Sandy's thoughts. _Why? Why are you helping them?_

Firebringer tried seeing through Cocoa's head and stared at her. She seemed to be humming a song in her head, as she smiled at Sunburn and Amberkeeper. He couldn't see anything else.

Sandstorm cleared his throat again. "That's fine. We're going to stick around," he said. "If we succeed in taking out Badger, we're going to control the city."

The siblings nodded. Cocoa raised an arm and pointed at the crude drawing Sandstorm had made. "So where exactly would the guards be located?"

"I know the answer to that after delivering mangoes to Badger so many times." Sunburn drew some figures in the sand. "Uh… The uh, patrols are always going to take these routes," he said, turning at Amberkeeper. "I'd been observing them for a while. You probably don't need this, don't you?"

"Firebringer and I don't," she responded, in a cutting tone.

Cocoa raised her voice. "I am who needs to know, Sunburn."

"Uh, right," said Sunburn. He kept drawing some more patrolling routes. "To get to the second floor you will have to get past two armored guards that are instructed not to let anyone through."

Amberkeeper nodded thoughtfully, sat down and looked at the sky. "Not a problem."

_Fwoosh._ A large cloud of smoke came out of her mouth, obscuring the sky.

Firebringer perked up. "Amber, that's incredible!"

She quickly started coughing, turning her head away from the smoke to recover some air. "I can't do that for long. I discovered it with Cocoa."

Sandstorm nodded. "That's perfect." He turned towards Firebringer. "You're responsible for taking out the guards as silently as possible."

"Yes, sir!" said Firebringer.

Sandstorm cleared his throat again. "The second floor is largely unguarded. One of the SandWings cooks at night, but if you go through here, surrounding this room by the right instead of the left, you should go unnoticed. The third floor is where they keep the prisoners. That's when the cactus comes in. You're going to detonate it in front of the cell at a safe distance. I can get to the market tomorrow and grab some Dragonflame Cactus for the two of you."

Sunburn objected. "It might be unsafe. If they follow you here, it's over for us."

"They won't know I'm helping you out," said Sandstorm. "At least, unless Badger has the idea of visiting the bar while it's closed." Sandstorm wrapped Sunburn around one of his wings. "It's fine, really!"

Sunburn quickly pushed Sandstorm away. "Shoo, you! I'm just worried about us."

Sandy and Cocoa laughed as Sandstorm unwrapped Sunburn. Sandstorm continued. "Cocoa, you said you wanted to go for Badger, right?"

"That's right," said Cocoa. "He's not even going to see it coming." She pulled out a blowpipe out of her poach and three darts. "These better still work," she said, staring at the darts.

Firebringer winced. _I'm going to see why people think Cocoa is dangerous first-hand_.

"One last thing," said Sandstorm. "Be careful with the scavengers."

Firebringer and Amberkeeper were unaware of what he meant with 'be careful with the scavengers' but dared not to ask. That warning marked the end of the meeting. The rest of the afternoon, they spent the time reviewing the drawing of the building, the patrolling routes and the general approach. The five dragons rested on the sand that night.

Amberkeeper and Firebringer couldn't fall asleep. Firebringer sat on the sand, picking up some sand and letting it fall between his talons. The wind had started blowing, carrying the sand underneath them away.

Firebringer couldn't stop thinking he would have to hurt more dragons if he wanted to save their parents. He'd have to use his abilities to cause pain he would comprehend every step of the way. He wondered where the voices of the dragons went when they died, and yet, he found a discomforting comfort in the quiet that would come afterwards.

Amberkeeper was restless for a different reason. She dug herself into a hole in the sand, as she usually did in cold nights, exposing only her head. She kept covering herself in sand as the wind carried it away. The cold, windy nights were always restless.

Firebringer noticed she was struggling to sleep from the cold. He covered his sister with a large amount of sand and laid himself on top to warm her up. His sister was one of the voices he wouldn't ever feel relief for if it were to go away. He knew he hadn't ever before provided this warmth for her, but now couldn't imagine he had ignored doing so for so long.

No words were exchanged that night.

–  
Chapter 7 –

Badger looked around him and the only thing he felt was loneliness. It wasn't that he didn't have anyone to talk to. It wasn't really that he didn't have the time as he carried his duty protecting the city, as he still had plenty of time left over.

Not really. Not this time. He can't count on these goons around him. They all had good intentions, as far as he was concerned. Some of them went out of their way to be helpful, but none of it helped. He was alone. He had to deal with the consequences of whatever happened to Sandcarrion alone, and from that, the consequences it'd have on him.

Not that he was concerned. Those feelings came and went. He felt alone now, but tomorrow? Tomorrow was going to be a bright, normal day. No dragons screaming in his ear that what he was doing is wrong, and he shouldn't compromise anyone for Sandcarrion. They'd told him many times: They'd fight to the death to defend their home, but he was skeptical.

They all already had abandoned their home in coming here.

But it was fine. Badger was there. He'd protect them. On his own. Alone. No matter if Burn herself came to knock on The Lung, Badger would be there.

But for now, nobody would tell him he's wrong. Or hurt his wings. Or burn his limbs. Or break his bones. Right now, he was fine, but right now, there was also danger.

The two dragonets.

Nobody was much of a fighter around him. Nobody ever got hurt while they were _in_ Sandcarrion. Whatever happened if they were taken back to the war, well, it was their problem. Maybe they escape to Possibility. Maybe they find solace among the long missing RainWings and live among their lazy kin. But if someone brought trouble to Sandcarrion…

_I'll give them trouble myself._

Badger limped along with broken wings and burnt limbs. He'd arrived at The Lung. Never thought of it as cozy. That's not how he would describe it. Neither was _home_ a good description.

_But it's safe. At least it's safe._

Why did Sunburn, of all dragons, lie to him? What did the RainWing tell him? Why did Sunburn, of all dragons of whom he thought about the closest to family, that he adopted for himself as his own son, lie about such dangerous dragonets? Was he still so childish that he thought he could take revenge for himself after surviving just barely?

Badger walked along the halls of The Lung and saluted the SandWing guards that stood before him. At least, he thought, they would obey.

_Because you either lose your lives here or lose them in the war._

Very clever. There was no way around it. Loyal obedience or certain death at the hands of the other tribes. He'd lost track of the alliances. They didn't matter to him anymore. He forgot the prophecy. Just made up words to soothe the naïve_._ A bunch of dragonets would never, ever stop the war. Who were they selling hope to, anyway?

He walked up the stairs to the second floor and checked the kitchen. Alacran was still making food. At this hour. Way after the hour anyone is allowed to eat. He wondered where Alacran found their passion, that stout dragon. But it's fine. He's useful. There's nothing wrong with that.

Badger's room was exactly as he left it. Clean, never messy. Could he have been fit to help anyone if he couldn't ever figure out his own mess? No. Never. Impossible. He looked over his didgeridoo, a gift he received long ago, from a friend.

They're dead now. It's no use remembering. No value in preserving or learning the didgeridoo either, but it did for nice decoration.

He had some questions to ask the two prisoners. Perhaps he could put two and two together. The dragonets making the mess were the two dragonets these two were complaining about. Easy. Simple. Smart. They probably knew where they'd go. A SkyWing and NightWing. Their dragonets couldn't possibly be more dangerous. Right?

He went up the stairs to the third floor. The cells were neatly arranged in rows and their height was as if the building was two times the height per floor. Plenty of space for them to stretch their wings while he gave them back to the dragons that wanted to find them. He had no use for these outlaws himself until now.

"You!" exclaimed the SkyWing. "Where are our dragonets?"

The NightWing made a motion to calm her down, to no avail. Badger laughed and sneered at the couple.

"What makes you think that I know anything about your dragonets?" he said.

"We told you about the oasis. You must have done something to them. I can smell it. I can smell the malice coming out of you," she exclaimed.

"What, you silly smartass, stopped you from sensing such sensible things on our first happenstance?" He let out a laugh.

_Malice._

The SkyWing growled. "You fooled us! You made us trust you and look where it took us. WHERE ARE OUR DRAGONETS?" she yelled.

"I am, in fact, here to ask about that," said Badger. "I've received news about two unruly dragonets burning and killing dragons in my city. My best dragon, Sunburn, was one of the victims."

"Impossible!" yelled the SkyWing. "They wouldn't hurt _anybody._"

"Would they?" asked Badger. "Last we spoke, you told me that they'd never left the oasis. Are you sure you know them as well as you think? Dragons are, incredibly prone to violence, after all. Just look at the war."

The NightWing spoke up. "And as you see, here we are. In a place where we ran away from the that. What does that tell you?"

Badger smiled. "I'm not in the mood for being reasonable today. Answer me. Where might your dragonets have gone to?"

The NightWing smirked. "Oh, how would we know? We might just not know our dragonets that well after all."

Badger's expression changed to one of annoyance. "I'm sure the NightWings will do much worse to you than a broken leg."

The NightWing stood up and unwrapped the SkyWing from his wings.

"You're not going to free us either way. And the NightWings, as much as they would kill me, would not like anything that may seem like they were pressed for information." His face turned serious.

That was it. Badger knew that no amount of wit or threat would get past the NightWing.

"You talk big, NightWing. Is this SkyWing under the same guarantees?" Badger calmly sat on the floor.

The NightWing ran at him, put his head across the bars and let out a large flame out of his mouth.

Badger quickly jumped back and away from the cell. "Well! If it isn't the uncooperative dragon!" Badger had a sudden realization and nodded at himself, satisfied. "It's fine. You'll be changing your mind once they come for you."

The SkyWing and the NightWing looked at each other, confused.

Badger smiled again, walking down from the second floor. "The RainWing is coming."

–  
Chapter 8 –

Cocoa shuffled her talons uneasy. Among her concerns was that the blowdarts might have been denaturalized due to the higher temperatures, that she had to rebuild her home, and more importantly, Badger.

It was something a long time coming, or so she thought. The two dragonets next to her were an interesting development. Sandy had been keen on helping them without considering the consequences. Cocoa was hoping her judgment was sound.

And so, she thought, if Badger's concerned about them, they might just be dangerous enough to help with her and Sandy's dangerous operation. After all, stealth was not a problem. Not to a RainWing. And killing dragons with fire and tail barbs only a few meters away, staying out of their reach? No big deal.

Doing it without killing anyone? Harder. But for all purposes, the prisoner deal of the two dragonets was more than a good distraction. Even Sandstorm came to help them plan. Lucky Cocoa.

Sandstorm guided them up until a few kilometers away from The Lung. They'd have to walk since neither Amberkeeper or Firebringer were able to camouflage. Inconvenient, but she can't burn dragons by just touching them either. Everyone's different.

"This place is quite far away from the city, isn't it?" asked Firebringer.

"Not quite much," said Sandstorm. "It's just hidden behind the dunes."

"Of course I knew that!" protested Firebringer. "I'm just saying!"

Amberkeeper sat next to her brother. "There's no way you don't come out of this one without looking like an idiot," she said with a smile on her face, "so let it go."

Firebringer opened his mouth but quickly shut it back closed.

"Continue straight through this side, the building is going to provide you with enough cover to enter through the guard posts' blind spot," interrupted Sandstorm. "Sorry if it seems like I'm giving you no time for banter, but we already gave Badger a full night to prepare."

Sandstorm went on about he's not going to take any responsibility if they got caught, blah, blah, deny his involvement if we get caught, blah, blah. Standard fare. She heard it all many times before.

She'd made Sandcarrion her home, after all. The dumb mango stand, and the dragon that operated it probably mattered more to her than to Badger.

But it wasn't the time to be thinking about the past, anyway. Someone's got to sling on the trees every once in a while. Badger had more than enough opportunities to find a stable way of keeping the deserters away from the war. But threatening to kill a dragon with burns all over their body out of fear for a pair of dragonets? In a RainWing's hut of all places. That's the last straw. Like, the last one.

But still, those two dragonets are surprisingly concentrated on what Sandstorm's saying. Must be pretty important, or maybe they're just taking all the hints they can get for getting into their first battle at the young age of three.

That's Badger's fault. Not that she minds the help.

Cocoa stretched a bit, taking in the last bits of sunlight she'd get for today. By all accounts, she would miss the hammock. Sandstorm was still going on regarding the plans. Yeah, when the dragon next to the door snores that's when to enter. Yeah. They're not really prepared for anyone infiltrating the building. The guards on the inside are more of a formality. Those random pieces of trivia are not going to change the outcome. At this stage, Sandstorm's just showing off. But she's not going to tell her friend's boyfriend, who graciously told them the layout of the building, to just shut up already. That'd be rude.

Were they a couple, just good friends, or the greatest duo of coworkers? Ah. She should've asked when she had the chance. She did want to ask Sandy herself if she wanted to hang out more often, if she caught her groove.

"And that's all you need to know," said Sandstorm.

"Y-yes sir! I will make sure to remember all of this information!" said Firebringer.

"He won't," giggled his sister. "If you ask him what your name is, you'll be lucky to get an answer."

"I do remember! It's um," he paused, "Sandstorm!"

"Oh, please. You read that from his mind."

Firebringer sat with a smile on his face. "It's far easier here, actually!" Firebringer cheered, "Except for the lady over there and you who seem to have a thing for blankness," he said merrily.

_Did he just call me an idiot?_

"U-uh oh. Miss, your scales turned color."

His sister blinked and quickly came to placate her anger. "No! He doesn't mean it in that way! He's… saying that your mind is hard to read. That's all."

Fair enough. That's a relief if she ever encountered any other NightWings. Yeah. Sure. Just go with it. Don't fight your allies.

But mind reading? Sandy didn't explain that one.

Sandstorm spoke up again. "Okay! The three of you should be going now. If you manage to get it done, throw a little flame in the roof for me, will ya?"

Amberkeeper and Firebringer nodded together. "Yes, sir!"

Amberkeeper noticed Sandy and Sunburn had followed them. She didn't believe they'd join them, but they clearly were here for a reason. But it didn't matter. The three of them were enough to free their parents. Cocoa was walking ahead of them as they approached The Lung.

"Hey, Amber, did you know that you talk while asleep?" asked Firebringer.

"Huh?" The remark caught her off guard.

"Yeah, you were saying some weird, creepy things. Something about us and about the sun and some voices."

_The sun? Voices? Is that related to my dreams?_

"Oh, sorry. It's probably a bad time to bring it up, right?"

It was the worst time. One more thing to worry about was not what she wanted so close to entering The Lung.

"You know, your head sounds the clearest it's been in months. What happened?"

She didn't know.

Firebringer clutched his head. "Argh! Where are these coming from?"

_Oh, did I do that?_

She looked ahead and noticed they had arrived at The Lung. It wasn't her.

The observation posts were illuminated by a light reminiscing of fire. They projected each other's shadows to the floor as they made the place feel as if it had a small sun of its own. The posts continued a long way from where they were, surrounding the settlement that existed right next to Sandcarrion, with similar looking buildings that surrounded a four-floor tall building that made every other building seem small in comparison. The thought of being surrounded by so many SandWings that were ready to wake up and kill them was terrifying.

They would most certainly succeed or die, with no middle ground. Sandstorm's advice better be useful.

The Lung itself was surrounded by impressive stone columns. The front was decorated with the statue of one of the SandWing queens that were forgotten by time. It was surrounded by scavengers that now, at night, were polishing it to a shine.

Firebringer winced and ran at the scavengers.

The scavengers started yelling and running away as they saw Firebringer approach them. He pounced on them, grabbing them with his claws and burned them with his breath with a malignant smile on his face. It wasn't long until there were only corpses.

The statue stared down on Firebringer when two of the SandWing guards making the rounds had come to check on the howls of the dead scavengers.

The plan was off to a bad start.

"You, intruder, stop right now!" One of the two guards commanded.

Firebringer turned towards them. His body burnt the air around him and released hot steam. He stared at them with spiteful intent as both SandWings grabbed their lances.

_Fwoosh._ Firebringer breathed a fire so intense the night turned day for a moment, and so large it rivalled the barracks the guards lived in.

Both SandWings were reduced to nothing more than a stain on the columns behind them.

Firebringer ran into The Lung. Amberkeeper noticed two guards at the entrance had a different kind of burn, one that still ate away at their scales as their pained expressions revealed the suffering they had gone through before their untimely deaths.

She had to do something. She couldn't stand to do nothing again.

Amberkeeper ran after her brother, dauntless. The halls around her had the smell of death as she left footprints on the ashes left of the inhabitants.

She ran. She ran and ran for the most endless minute of her life.

The bones of two more SandWings were left on the base of the stairs to the second floor.

_What happened to you, Fiery?_

She ran to the second floor. The flames engulfed it all. Cocoa was leaving a room at the left side of the hall with Badger's body, intact.

"What happened, Cocoa?" said Amberkeeper.

"I took care of Badger," said Cocoa. "This isn't the time to be chatting, Amberkeeper, we have to get out of here."

"Who caused this fire?"

"It wasn't me, if that's what you're asking."

_Uh oh._

Cocoa quickly lifted Badger's body on top of hers. "I'll take care of him. You go look for your brother."

Amberkeeper nodded and ran to the third floor.

Just in time to find Firebringer staring at their parents in silence.

_What is he going to do?_

_Is he going to…?_

Firebringer lashed out at the cell, biting the bars that kept him separated from his parents.

"Firebringer, what happened to you?" asked Moonstone.

"He's lost control of himself again," said Amberkeeper.

"Lost control? How? He's not an animal," said Starmover.

_They don't know. Firebringer never told them._

Amberkeeper calmed herself and walked to her brother. She put her talon on his shoulder, burning herself. _I must bear it for just long enough to make him snap out of it._

"Amber! Don't touch him!" exclaimed Moonstone.

_It's time to put it to the test, Fiery. Will the desert swallow us whole?_

She grabbed the back of his head with her other talon.

Firebringer's look on his eyes changed from bloodthirsty to serene as he saw his sister's hissing scales.

He let go of the cell.

"Amber… Mom. Dad. What happened?"

Amberkeeper embraced his brother as he quickly cooled off to a scorching, yet bearable temperature.

Firebringer started crying and embraced his sister back. For the first time, he felt he was sharing the fire with his sibling.

"That's impossible," said Moonstone. "S-Starmover! Are you seeing this?"

Starmover was at a loss for words. "That can't be."

The two siblings let go of each other as Amberkeeper carefully took out the Dragonflame Cactus out of her poach and put it on front of the cell.

"Step back," said Amberkeeper to her parents, and she herself took distance with Firebringer. "It's all yours, Fiery."

Firebringer let out the smallest fire he had ever let out in his life.

_Boom._

The cell was blasted open. Starmover and Moonstone ran out of the cell.

Moonstone embraced Firebringer for as long as she could before she started burning.

He was humbled, for once.

Starmover walked to Amberkeeper. "Well done," he said. "But the two of you are grounded forever," he said, matter-of-factly.

Amberkeeper laughed. "We have to get out of here first."

She grabbed a second piece of Dragonflame Cactus and put it next to the wall inside of the cell. She took some distance and put out the largest flame she had ever put out in her life.

_Boom._

The wall was open. Moonstone grabbed her head. "Amberkeeper, you could breathe fire this entire time?!"

She smiled. "No, that's the first time that works."

Firebringer laughed. "Let's go."

The four of them flew away from The Lung through the hole in the wall and looked back on the ashes of the dragons they burnt that night.

_I choose to go wherever the future takes me._

–  
Epilogue –

Cocoa entered the room where Badger hid himself in.

Two blowdarts had failed, but she had one left to test.

"Cocoa," said Badger. "I know why you're here. I never knew revenge was your style."

"It's not revenge, scorpion, it's justice."

"Are you still mad about your RainWing friends?"

Cocoa scoffed. "You sold them off to the NightWings, scorpion. No revenge will ever satisfy me."

Badger sighed. "Well, let's make a deal. Both of us know I have the best interests of Sandcarrion in mind, which is why I let you and Sandy continue with your enforcement operation."

_He knew._

"Go on."

"I can get them back," he said. "I received news the other day, that some NightWing deserters took off with them."

"And you haven't told the NightWings?"

"The deserters have not spoken about Sandcarrion. Not a bad deal."

Cocoa hesitated. He might've been lying, but seeing the tribemates she had left the rainforest with once again was one of the things she wanted the most in the world.

Even if they weren't comfortable with her new identity.

"I already agreed to take you down, Badger. Besides, you're a hypocrite and a coward," she said. "Would you have given up on your own family to keep Sandcarrion safe?"

Badger gave her a pained expression and stayed silent for a moment.

"I thought so," said Cocoa.

Badger shook his head. "You're wrong, RainWing. They're the first thing I gave up to keep Sandcarrion safe."

"Liar."

"Why don't you come with me? I can show you."

Cocoa flinched. He might be telling the truth. He might not. He might help her find her tribemates again. All in all, she wasn't sure Badger might have been who she thought he was. She took her blowgun and shot the last dart at Badger. The dragon, shook by the attack, quickly began to lose consciousness.

"I'm going to decide it later," said Cocoa.

74


End file.
